By Carly Horton | September 23, 2024
When you’re looking for a cool new food, coffee, and dessert spot to try out, look no further than what downtown Albany has to offer with Bitchin’ Donuts of Lark Street. This strikingly purple storefront has commanded the corner of Lark and Spring Streets (right across from Herbie’s Burgers) since March 2023. Open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday through Sunday, they are famous for their vast array of creative donut options, which cost between $3.50 (unfilled) and $4 (filled).
Besides that, they also sling some great coffee and they even have a full menu, fixing assorted in-house-made bagels into clever sandwiches like the 50 Mission Cap, which is loaded with jalapeno cream cheese, fried onions, impossible sausage, and maple aioli. Their donuts are made fresh daily, and their flavor offerings change weekly.
From left to right: Strawberry Basil Lemonade, Pumpkin French Toast Roll, Apple Cider Glaze.
Photo credit: Carly Horton / The ASP
Along with being entirely woman-owned, another impressive thing about Bitchin’ Donuts is that everything is vegan! To be honest, I had no idea until I went to their website to write this article, which speaks to how good their food is (because sometimes, you can tell when something is vegan immediately upon taking your first bite). The dough used is the perfect fluffy, moist base for their innovative icing concoctions, of which they feature 15 different types a week. There’s something for everyone with classic flavors like Strawberry Frosted and Boston Creme to even wild flavors like Strawberry Basil Lemonade that have never disappointed. Out of some tempting donuts on the menu for this week, I tried the Pumpkin French Toast Roll, Strawberry Basil Lemonade, Apple Cider Glazed, and the Apple Chai Spice (not pictured, unfortunately). They post their flavors for the week on their website, their Facebook, and their Instagram.
(From left to right) The Apple Cider Glazed, Pumpkin French Toast Roll and Strawberry Basil Lemonade donuts from Bitchin’ Donuts.
Photo credit: Carly Horton / The ASP
The Apple Cider Glazed is sure to satisfy any glazed donut lover. It is faintly reminiscent of the sweet-tartness of crisp apple cider, sugary and thick with a glaze that flakes off on your mouth. So good. I want to dip this in a cup of apple cider.
The Pumpkin French Toast Roll was downright beautiful, with its stripes of pumpkin frosting and powdered sugar on top. It was cinnamony between the layers of perfectly firm dough, and truly delightful.
Summer is still here in full force, so in the spirit of savoring this last gasp of balmy weather, I also tried the Strawberry Basil Lemonade. It was filled densely with a runny and mouth-wateringly sweet lemon custard, resembling the filling for a lemon pie. It resembles all the other donuts I tried in that they all make for the perfect sweet treat when you have an insatiable craving for something sugary and delish.
The Apple Chai Spice (unfortunately not pictured) was the reigning favorite. It was a typical unassuming donut with white frosting that ran decadently down its sides and the most incredible surprise: apple pie filling inside! I don’t think I’ve ever tasted a better donut. Truly.
The Pumpkin Cheesecake Iced Macchiato from Bitchin’ Donuts
Photo Credit: Carly Horton / The ASP
Bitchin’ Donuts also has some insane coffee: they brew Kru Coffee beans, a family-owned, ethically sourced coffee roaster from Saratoga Springs. I got the Pumpkin Cheesecake Iced Macchiato. It was a perfect Starbucks-type macchiato, with that initial bitter espresso bean water, and then, suddenly, the gorgeous reprieve of frothed milk that incredibly resembles a pumpkin cheesecake, both in taste and somehow, texture? I appreciated the layer of cold foam on top that shielded me from the taste of concentrated coffee by sandwiching it with sweetness, because I love my drinks to taste like a dessert.
Not pictured were two other coffees I tried off the specialty menu: the Caramel Apple Cold Brew and the Caramel Apple Butter (Dirty) Chai. I had never tried cold brew before– I was always worried it would be too bitter – but it was absolutely divine, and I think I’m solidly in the cold brew camp now. As always, the Chai was wonderful, but I guess there’s a reason it’s not listed as a dirty chai on their monthly drink menu: I found that the flavors somewhat blended together into obscurity where the drink just tasted generally sweet and autumnal. I love chai, though, especially when it’s too late in the day for coffee but I still need some motivation, and I’m so excited to have found the perfect spot to get one.
Downtown Albany is an area full of vibrance and life that one cannot resist being enamored by! Take this opportunity to get yourself a treat and in the process, explore an eclectic, friendly neighborhood. Park a sizable distance down one of those orange-and-green tree-lined one-way side streets like State or Chestnut that stretch south toward the Capitol and make up Center Square. Or, catch the 12 from Collins Circle down Washington, get off one street past Lark on Dove, and meander around the area, marveling at the beautiful brownstones with their bay windows and flower boxes. Bring a friend or two, or headphones, and slowly stroll up to Lark to get your donut.
And don’t neglect to check out other cool downtown Albany spots in the neighborhood, like the aptly named Dove & Hudson used bookstore (I love their $1 shelf), or Cheesecake Machismo on Hamilton for another different honest-to-goodness dessert option. Maybe, at some point, sweet treat in hand, you should even find yourself way down State Street, where the streets and sidewalks slowly widen until the capital building, looming and breathtaking, eventually appears in front of you.
Center Square and its quirky shops and extraordinarily warm people were one of the first things that made me feel not as small in the broader Albany region. These unique, dynamic places like Bitchin’ Donuts and the neighborhoods they exist in are far past the reaches of the UAlbany uptown campus, yet are so worth making the effort to get to know. One can never tire of the church steeple cupolas peeking out from the gaps in the trees beyond the rows of stone homes, or the cats backlit by blinds in windows, or all the other people around that convince you there is so much life and goodness here in these storied State Street brownstones and dazzlingly purple corner storefronts.